


On The Trail of a Teenage Dhampir

by ChanseyDelighted89



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 20,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15185195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChanseyDelighted89/pseuds/ChanseyDelighted89
Summary: For the longest time, Nina thought she was normal. Just your average teenager with a skin condition. That was until she woke up floating above her bed. Now she finds out she's not who she thinks she is. Nor is she as normal as she seemed to be.





	1. Strange Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Her name is Nina Parker. And I haven't decided if she'll be in the Marvel universe or not. Tempted to not add her in.

Breathe, girl, breathe. You're gonna faint if you don't take at least one breath. But I honestly couldn't help myself. I felt so nervous as I stood on a stage in front of a crowd that looked bored. They looked like they wanted to take a bite out of me. And I swear I could hear a cricket chirping like you'd hear in cartoons.

Holding the mic, I opened my mouth to start singing. And all that came out was the most horrific growling noise ever. There was a long beat before crowd started booing me. My classmates standing before me with annoyed looks. As well as my family. They stood in the front row as they yelled things at me. Even my best friends faces were scrunched up in disgust. I chewed my bottom lip as I tried to back away from the middle of the  _stage-_ **and**  ended up falling backwards into nothing. Literal nothingness. Turning around I suddenly saw the ground rising up to greet me. But before I hit the  ** _dirt-_** I woke up.

_Hovering._

And I wasn't hovering a few inches either. I was possibly a foot off my bed, back to the ceiling. It only lasted a few seconds, I collapsed back onto my purple sheets with a soft plop. Pushing myself up onto my elbows as I thought of what just happened. I asked myself out loud," _Okay... **what**  just happened?_"

Never have I done that when I had a nightmare like that. To my knowledge at the very least I've never did that when I dreamed that I was falling. That kind of scared me a little bit. I wasn't too sure what to make of all of this. So I elected to just try and ignore the dream. I hurriedly got ready for the day. I brushed my hair, put on my favorite lilac long sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and my favorite black boots. Put on my favorite sunhat along as well as lots of sunscreen. Why put on a hat and sunscreen you ask? Well I have a lovely skin condition that requires that I keep my pale ass out of the sun as much as possible. Or else I end up looking like a giant walking blood blistered sunburn. And embarrassingly enough, it's happened more than once. I can be quite forgetful at times so it can be hard to keep track. Thankfully it's only happens during the holidays and when school starts up. But usually when school starts. Why? Because I tend to get too stressed by school to remember to bring it along. I usually end up going to the nurses office looking rather frightful and disgusting. I'd like to say this doesn't happen a lot. But then I'd be a dirty liar.

After I get dressed, I hurriedly made my way downstairs to the kitchen. My younger siblings were already having their breakfast. Deanna was enthusiastically reading the newspaper. And my twelve year old brother, Stefan. Who was scarfing down his cereal with the enthusiasm of a starved dog. He was getting a little of it on his favorite teenage mutant ninja turtle t-shirt.  Deanna is fifteen years old and normally wears tomboy clothes. For whatever reason today is wearing more feminine clothes than even I would like to wear. And that's saying a lot. But I didn't comment on this sudden change in style. Instead I just sat down at the kitchen table saying,"Good mornin' Stefan."

"Mrning.",my little brother replied through his mouth full of food. I rolled my eyes in disgust and sat near him. In a gentle voice, I said,"Morning, De."

"Morning, Nina.",she said not looking up from the paper. I didn't really think much of this and reached over the table grabbing a muffin. Picking at the top, I asked,"So is your essay finally finished?"

"Yep."

"Oh. So what did ya write about, De?",I asked smiling as she glanced up from the paper at me. Her mouth twisted into a frown as she answered,"I did a thing on vampires and their creepy offspring."

"That sounds pretty neat.",I said. Something in that frown sort of made me feel a bit uneasy. I asked,"Did you not like what you read? Was it too scary or something?"

"No. It kinda made me think of someone I know is all.",De told me. She folded up the newspaper and set it on the table near me. I asked,"Oh and who would that be?"

Deanna shrugged her shoulders and didn't look at me. That struck me as odd but I didn't put her on the spot. In a gentle voice, she answered,"Just someone."

"Is it anyone I know?"

"Yeah it kind of is. I gotta get to school early to talk to Terra about a project we're doing together.",she told me. Speed walking out of the room faster than I've ever seen her before. My little brother had been watching in confusion. He asked,"Yeesh. What's her problem?"

I simply shrugged my shoulders at this. Deanna was confusing sometimes. So I snagged another muffin from the plate that my Dad made. Just who did the  _vampire/offspring_ thing remind her of? It can't be me since I know I'm not a vampire or half a vampire. Or act like I am. So did she mean a friend of hers? Or did she mean herself? Okay I doubt she meant herself considering that I've never seen her do anything remotely vampire-ish. But then again my sister is an oddball. She has her own odd way of doing things and I can't explain it.

So I hurriedly ate my breakfast quickly as I heard a car drive up. And a familiar car horn sound. I told my brother good bye and ran out of the room and house. My friends Honey Mickey and Cassandra Ouvrey parked out in front of my house in Cassie's beat up old car. I put my sister's weirdness out of my mind as I got into the car. I said,"Good morning, guys."

Cassie said,"Morning."

Honey only nodded at me as Cassie pulled away from the curb. I asked,"So what are you guys up to today?"

Toying with her long brown hair, Honey answered,"Not much, after school we're gonna watch '80's horror movies at my place."

"What ones?",I asked. Putting my bag on the seat next to me. Cassie questioned,"Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and possibly Halloween. You up for it?"

"Sure. Why not?"


	2. School Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina tries to ignore the morning's events.

We arrived to school with at least half an hour to spare. Which we spent in the library that was close to the front of the school. Instead of thinking of the finished assignments I had to hand in. Or the horrible quiz that Mr. Everdeen most likely had for me and for my friends. Even though I was dreading that today. Instead I was thinking of the nightmare and the weird hovering from earlier this morning. How could I have been floating a foot above my bed like that? I kept coming to the conclusion that was either half asleep and dreaming that I was floating. Or we somehow possibly suddenly gained a ghost in the house. That seemed to only like floating me when I wasn't awake. Which seems highly unlikely but what else could it have possibly been? Me suddenly gaining mutant powers to float or something like that? Sounds like the beginning of a rather crappy young adult book. Like Stephanie Meyer started writing a cash in sappy love story book with mutants thrown in for the Hell of it.

Though out of the two I can't tell what would be worse. 

I tried to put these thoughts to the back of my mind. Thinking of that wouldn't really help me. So I searched for a certain book that Hon said was good. It was a child's book on wizards or whatever. Some chosen one kid who has to save his school from certain destruction from some monster man who shouldn't be named. Though I'm not too sure I'll like it since I'm not into those kinds of books. But I figured I'd give it a chance. If it makes my hard to please best friend babble like a goofy  _fan-girl._ Then I suppose it's possibly worth reading. I picked out the only copy that was left on the shelf. It looked like it had seen better days. The front cover looked like a dog got their mouth on it. The cover page was curling in on itself. Spine was bent in odd places. As I was walking to the front desk, a few pages came out. The Librarian didn't seem surprised by that. It's not like the Librarian can honestly do anything about it. She's just the chick who checks out the books then puts them back in their proper places. Not the one who repairs them for every little thing. Sure they'll give you tape for rips in the pages. Though I don't think they can staple books together or anything like that. After I get the book checked out I put it in my bag. Then I hurried over to the table where my friends sat. In a low voice, I say,"This better be as good as you say it is, Honey."

She rolls her eyes at me in annoyance at my words. It isn't hard for either of us to annoy Honey though. Then she asked,"Have I ever been wrong?"

"Would you like me to get you an alphabetical list?",I questioned in a teasing tone. She gave me a light punch to the shoulder. It didn't hurt to much and I couldn't help but laugh. The ten minute bell sounded. I got out of the chair. Then hurried towards my first hour class as quickly as possible. Trying to avoid running but trying to not get left behind. 

Why am I trying to get to class so fast for? Well it isn't because I'm worried that I'll be late. Or that I'm really excited about the class. The reason is, Allyssa McDougal. Who is this  _little rich..._ ** _brat_** that acts like she's better than me. Mostly due to her family is so stinkin' wealthy while my family isn't. Or how supposedly so much prettier than me. I guess a chick with eight pigtails that's dyed partly purple and silver is cool. And she has lots of weird facial piercings. I guess it pays to have parents with a lot of money to spoil you. Other wise she wouldn't look as special as she claims she is. Which would be so horrible. Having to look like one of us so called  _'normal'_ girls. She has the  _'coolest'_ and latest fashions. Gadgets and everything else that she can't ever seem to shut the hell up about. Trying to ignore her when she does this is pretty hard. You try to ignore a cell phone shoved into your face and see how that goes. I've almost gotten in trouble for the times that I've told her to piss off. And I didn't exactly use that word either. 

I don't know why she's so intent on being  _'better'_  than me. All I wanna do is get through with the school day and go home. But every single time I'm here at school she has to try and one up me. It's kind of pathetic. Like she has this need to be in the spot light at all times. Which wouldn't bother me so much if she'd left me alone. As I headed to my class, I wondered why she didn't like me. Sure I'm not thinking of her in the best of light at the moment. Though I hadn't actually done anything to her. And I mean I haven't done anything to her. Before she started acting like such a jack ass, I left her alone. Went out of my way to leave her be. Didn't call her names or anything like that. Then after summer vacation freshman year, she just started treating me like crap. Making fun of my skin condition and the way I dressed. Hiding my sunscreen so I'd hide in the shadows.

Or picking on the way my skin turned red after being exposed to sunlight. Calling me gross stuff that I don't want to repeat. Though she stopped doing that when I told a teacher. Instead she's been doing more annoying things. Like messing with my hats or jostling me in the hallways. I really hope she gets what's coming one day.


	3. Power Emergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She thought she could ignore the floating. That she had merely imagined she'd done it...things aren't that easy...

I had been finishing up my test when I felt something knock against my chair. Which was followed by a soft snicker. Without looking up to check, I knew who it was. Allyssa. Chewing my bottom lip I tried to ignore this as I continued with my test. She kicked my chair again and I ignored it to the best of my ability. She wasn't going to get the satisfaction of knowing she was starting to get on my nerves. My test was done a little bit after she stopped kicking my chair. I guess she got bored that I wasn't reacting to her shit. 

Half an hour later, I was walking to my next class with my friends who were talking about some new boy. Honey was giggling like a silly little girl with a crush as went on about this boy. In a weird tone she gushed,"He's really cute in this nerdy way. Sorta mumbles when he talks and is a little clumsy."

"I didn't think he's all that cute, he's kind of creepy.",Cassie said rolling her eyes. She pointed him out in the hall as we headed towards our class. In a freaked out voice, she continued,"I tried to talk to him and he just acted like I cursed him or something."

Honey was right, he was kind of cute. He had short dark brown hair. His skin was so very pale, like he hadn't been in the sun for very long. Or ever. When he looked over at me, I noticed that he had very intense pale blue eyes. Which would have been adorable if he hadn't pulled this Hannibal Lector stare. When he looked away from me, I shivered a little. I said in a low voice," _That was kind of freaky..._ "

We went to class and switched our  _'street'_  clothes for our gym clothes. Then we went to the classroom and started our normal warm ups. My friend Honey was the only one who couldn't do them very well, she wasn't very flexible.

I don't want to sound like a total jerk but we kind of tease her for this. Especially when she glared at us when Cassie and I could touch our toes while she can't. Today wasn't going to be any different. So we're doing our warm ups as usual. And we giggled at Honey who called us jerks and then went on with the usual exercises.

Though when we were running laps, something felt off, I was running faster than normal. Like seriously faster than I have ever could. My friends had to struggle to keep up with me and I sorta felt giddy about that. I was faster than the two people who normally would have out ran me! That's when things started getting a bit, weird...you see after a while I couldn't feel the mat under my toes. And then I could actually see the wall clock over the door like I was eye level with it. That's when I heard one of my friends shout," _ **NINA!**_ What  _the_   _hell?!_ "

I looked behind me and realized that, yes, I was floating. That was pretty much a given, but that I was floating higher than I had this morning. So I freaked the hell out and fell on my ass on the mat. My friends came over and helped me up as I said,"Holy crap, how the...why the? I can't believe this."

"Dude, that looked like something out of the Matrix!",Honey told me as we continued our run. I looked around for any chance that the others had seen, but it seemed no one had. Cassie stated,"I wonder if anyone saw that..."

"If they did, wouldn't anyone be shouting ' _holy_   _crap_   _floating_   _chick_ '?",I pointed out as we finished the lap. I looked around as I said,"I'm just gonna take a wild guess that someone broke something or maybe someone got sick and the other kids are hovering around like flies."

Usually that happens and it's kind of disgusting. Kind of really disgusting. But that's curiosity for ya and I might have done the same thing. Honey stated,"I hope no one puked, that always stinks up the room."

"I'm taking a wild guess that someone broke something and the teacher's taking them to the nurse's office.",Cassie said as we got closer to the group of kids. A girl with short brown hair ran up to us. With a roll of her eyes, she said,"Bethany might have broken her ankle so the teacher said to just stretch while she takes her to the nurse's."

How the hell did she almost break her ankle? Did she run into something or something? I asked,"How the heck did that happen?"

"I have no idea, I was running laps and we heard Beth yell. And she said she tripped over something but we didn't see anything.",the girl said. She shrugged her shoulders as we walked back to the group. Another girl all in purple was questioning it herself as she looked around. In a confused voice, she said,"She's gotta have a lot of talent to break her ankle on NOTHING. I bet she probably tripped over her own foot and probably just bruised it or something."

Okay that sounds seriously kind of mean. But then again what normal girl you know literally trips over nothing? Probably some stupid chick with the hand eye coordination of a dead cat. Or probably someone who thinks that's  _'adorable'_ and is doing it on purpose to get people to like her more. Hey if it works for bad fan fiction writers it can probably work for them. Anyway as we stretch and walk a few laps. Honey asks quietly,"How the heck did you do that?"

"Yeah, Nina that was really kind of um...",my taller friend trailed off nervously.

"Creepy? Weird?",I offered as she looked down at me and smiled sheepishly as she said,"Sorta both. Nina that was one of the coolest things ever."

Honey giggled a bit and said,"Hey maybe Nina was lifted up by a ghost!"

We all giggled at the idea and continued on with the class grinning widely. That's the silliest thing I'd heard of all day and strangely that sounds like the most reasonable idea.


	4. Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get advice from friends. They might have the answers Nina seeks.

After school we all headed to Cassie's house to do homework and watch horror movies. On the drive there Honey asked me about what had happened earlier today. I told them what had happened that morning. And how I thought it was part of my nightmare until I had ran in gym. I stated,"It was so weird. I just thought I was imagining it."

Cassie seemed to think it was interesting. She toyed with her pencils as she thought about it. In a low voice, she said,"I think I heard of something like this...I'm not entirely sure where though."

"I'm surprised that you dreamed that we were booing you.",Honey said. Turning around to me with a bit of an indignant look on her face. I gave a sheepish grin as I shrugged my shoulders. In a gentle voice, I explained,"Well it was just a nightmare. You weren't the only ones I saw booing me at the talent show. Even my family was booing me. Along with that new weird girl, Jenna Crow."

"I believe she'd boo you. She seems bratty enough to do something rude as that.",Cassie chuckled. I couldn't help but giggle a little at this. She continues,"I've tried to talk to her before in class. And she acted like I was asking if I could skin her alive or something."

"Really? Geez.",I stated. As I watched the scenery outside the window. I've never tried to talk to Jenna. Though I have seen her plenty of times in and out of school. She's a little shorter than me with paler skin than mine. Her face is heart shaped face that's framed with dark brown hair. And her eyes are this freaky shade of grey that makes her look sad constantly. All she ever wears are these brown and cream colored clothes. I try to smile at her every chance I see her to be polite. But she never smiles back or ignores me completely. Figured that she was just shy but I guess she's just a total snob. Ignoring her, I asked,"So how's that new guy, what's his name?"

"Louis? Poor boy got the worst of Allyssa.",Honey informed me. She told me how a certain rich bitch yelled at the poor boy for just scuffing her shoes. And how she made a huge scene too. Louis tried to apologize for damaging her shoes even offering to fix it but she wouldn't listen. I felt a little bad for him. And flinched as she snapped,"She even hit the poor guy and when the teacher came in he believed her instead of Louis. I tried to speak up for him but the teacher didn't believe me or anyone who said anything. What the hell is Allyssa's problem?"

"Well Hon, she isn't called ' ** _Alpha_** ** _Bitch_** ' for nothing.",Cassie informed her. Sighing softly as she pulled into her driveway. I stated,"I'm more pissed at the stupid teacher. I can't believe he let Allyssa get away with that!"

As we got out of the car, we talked about ways to get back at a certain nasty girl for Louis. Even if he was a bit creepy, he didn't deserve to be treated so poorly. In a few minutes we came up with silly things we couldn't ever actually do. Like put cheese in her backpack and fill her locker with mice from the science lab. That way when she opens her locker all the little vermin'll try to get into her backpack to eat the cheese. ( _I know mice probably don't like cheese but, like I said, it was silly._ )

Or putting bleach in her shampoo so it'd ruin her precious perfect hair. Then she'd have to either re-dye it or cut it. We really doubted that it'd ruin her hair but it was fun thinking about her having to cut her precious hair. After this Honey and I started on our homework as Cassie got the DVD player set up. She put in the first movie and turned to us with a small smile. Toying with her backpack, she  says,"I think we should let Louis hang out with us. It might improve his chances of not getting picked on by little Miss Rich Bitch."

"I was thinking of telling the Principal and having Louis stick with us.",I said. I started finishing up a few math problems. They were tougher than I thought they would be. Hon says,"Good idea. Probably should have done that in the first place."

We finish up our homework as we watched a bunch of random teenagers get mauled by Jason Voorhees. I can't believe how many of them don't believe that this guy is real. Despite the mountain of evidence that said otherwise.  Such as the giant number of people who died at Camp Crystal lake. Do you really need to see the place for yourself? You'd think that people in this series would be trying to keep the Hell away from that place. But then it'd wouldn't be a series if there weren't a bunch of idiot people getting killed. Cassie asks,"I wonder why no one in these types of movies are smart enough to leave these places alone. Are they like brain dead or something?"

"Probably.",I answered. Honey points out,"There wouldn't really be many horror movies though if people didn't go anywhere near haunted places. Or if everyone lived and managed to _perma-kill_  the bad guy before the credits started to roll."

"Good point.",Cassie and I say together. Honey frowned a little as she put a vampire movie into the DVD player. It was an adaptation of Dracula. She says,"I kinda wish there were more female killers in horror movies. Like a female killer as strong as Jason Voorhees. With a final boy instead of a girl."

"Would that mean he'd have ripped clothing like all the final girls have?",I asked. Honey answers with a giggle,"Of course! What kind of movie would it be if there wasn't some cute brunette in ripped clothing at the end?"

"A really boring one?"


	5. Unwanted Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone left her a letter and a gift. But who is this person? And what does he want?

Usually, I'm not one for surprises. I really hate when something just comes up out of the blue. But when I came home from being at my friends house, there it was laying on my bed. It was a small golden colored gift-wrapped box with a small red bow on top. I always locked my bedroom door. The windows on the other side of my room do not open. At least not since I last tried to pry them open a couple years ago. Looking back into the hallway, I called out,"Hey? Anyone home?"

No one said anything back. I waited a few minutes before realizing that I was the only one home. And that no one in my family had left this gift on my bed. That was bad. Very bad. So I very carefully picked up the little package. Then I walked it over to my dresser as quickly as possible. Setting it down on the dresser, my mind started to go over the list of people that I knew. Honey likes to antagonize me sometimes but in a friendly sort of way. Teasing a bit. But she wouldn't buy me a gift and place it on my bed. Not unless it was a gag gift or something like that. Cassie may be my best friend but she doesn't do this sort of stuff. She just prefers to give cards.

Mom and Dad wouldn't have done it unless it was my birthday. And my birthday isn't for another three months. Also they wouldn't just leave one present on my bed without writing a note or sending me a text message. Stefan wouldn't have wrapped it like this. As I sat down on the bed, I briefly toyed with the idea that Deanna had given me the gift. Squashed it when I remembered that my sister is going through a pissy  _'me,me, me'_  phase. Right now, she wouldn't give me a fuckin' napkin, let alone a gift. Facing the dresser, feelings of dread and curiosity filled me as I thought of opening it.

What if it was something horrible? What if it wasn't? Who gave me it?

And as I continued to think about it and think about it, my curiosity grew. So I figured, screw the risk and slid out of my bed. Walked up to the present, snatched it off my dresser and started ripping open the wrapping paper. Threw off the bow onto the floor. I started to open the box it came in carefully as I chewed my bottom lip. When I peeked under the lid, I saw nothing that could hurt me. In fact, all I could see was tissue paper and a small line of something that looked a bit shiny. Pulling up the lid, I saw it was a long gold chain with an odd looking pendant. Taking it out of the box, I examined it a bit easier.

It was a round thing with pink on the inside in an odd pattern and a small ball in the middle of it. I had no idea what it was supposed to represent or what it meant. Looking back at the box in my other hand, I noticed a little letter sticking out of it. I put the necklace in my pocket and took the envelope with my name written on it. Setting the box down on the dresser, I ripped it open and pulled out the piece of paper inside.

It said, _" Dear Christina Parker,_

_I really doubt that you'll know anything about me at all. And I'm really sorry that I can't tell you all of this in person. But there's very a good reason why I can't be with you right now. And we'll cross that bridge when we come to it._

_But. I wanted you to know that. Your family isn't biologically related to you. You were given up at birth because...I just wasn't the right place to take care of you. Or the best person to take care of you. Not like how the people you live with are. I had no money to buy you clothes, to take you to a doctor or give you food. Or at least the type of food you would like to consume._

_I am your biological Father. You have every right to be pissed at me, never want to contact me or even yell at me if you want. I deserve it and more. But please. Don't ignore me. I want to meet you so bad and I miss you terribly._

_I have written my address on envelope and I hope to hear from you soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Damien Drasen."_

This couldn't be true, I re-read the entire thing in disbelief. I mumbled to myself," _Seriously...this has to be a prank. This can't be true._ "

Chewing my bottom lip, I felt this overwhelming urge to scream and crumple the paper up. Pretend I never read it. I also wanted to ask my parents before I jumped to conclusions and got grounded for making wild accusations. Or being a brat. While I was waiting I decided that maybe I should write back. I walked over to my desk and sat down wondering just what should I write to this guy. Getting out a piece of paper and a pencil, I started off with, _"Dear Damien Drasen,_

 _How did you get my address or into my bedroom for that matter? Do you not know how fucking messed up that is? You broke into my house to give me a message instead of just leaving it on the front porch or even the mail slot like a normal person does._   _If you wanted to speak to me then you should have done that. I don't want to know how you broke in and you better not do that again or I'll just call the cops instead._

_If your my father, then tell me when my birthday is then?_

_Who my ' **biological mother'** is then?_

_I don't know who you think you are and I really don't give a damn. I don't care if you respond to this letter, but afterwards don't ever try to contact me. I don't want anything more to do with you after all this._

_Sincerely,_

_Christina Parker."_

**There.**  No one can say I didn't try.


	6. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are things she considers on doing. Are they the right choices? And are they beneficial to her?

I held up the necklace to my throat in the bathroom mirror. Just to see how it would look on me  if I wore it. But I wasn't really interested in wearing it and I didn't exactly like it. So I walked back to my bedroom, right up to my dresser and slipped it into the top drawer. Then I went back to the bathroom and got washed up for dinner. My little brother, Stefan ran past me with a huge grin on his face. He says as he passes me,"Mom got the pizza from that one place we all like. And she got chicken with it this time."

I rolled my eyes as I walked to the stairs, my brother's favorite food in the world is chicken. Mostly baked chicken that our Mom makes but sometimes he likes to eat fried. Especially if it's from the usual pizza place that serves it with several dipping sauces. It was also the only type of food that Deanna didn't worry over. She'd been avoiding certain foods lately because she had been breaking out. But pizza night was the only night she didn't care about breaking out. Okay she does scrub her face at night and in the morning but she doesn't obsess as much. When I walked into the kitchen, Deanna had three pieces on her plate along with two chicken wings. I smiled at her and said,"Hey, De."

"Hey.",she said back looking at me funny. Like she was expecting me to do something and I wasn't too damn sure why. I shrugged it off, got a plate then some pizza with at least one piece of chicken and walked over to the table. Mom was there with her own plate and Dad was going in. She asks,"Nina?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Did you leave any of the windows open this morning?",she questioned with a raised brow. I glanced over at the windows then at her and said,"Haven't been near the windows in a long time, Mom."

She shakes her head then takes a bite out of her pizza, it seemed a bit odd. I asked,"Why? Were they open?"

"Yeah. Two of them were. Deanna says she didn't open it and so did, Stefan.",she explained. Dad comes in with a bottle of beer and a big slice of pizza. He asks,"Open what?"

"The windows were open. Mom's trying to find out who left them open this morning.",I answered picking up my slice of pepperoni. Dad looks over at the windows in the dining room raising a brow and states,"Well, I opened one window and that was in the living room. But I know I closed it before I went to work this morning."

"Why did you open the living room window?"

"Oh. The paper boy threw it in the little window garden again.",he said rolling his eyes in annoyance. I giggled a little at this, the local paper boy has horrible aim and ends up throwing the newspaper anywhere but the front porch. If he didn't do this every day, it'd be kind of funny.

After I finished dinner, I scrape the food off my dishes and into the trash before putting them into the sink. I walked out of the kitchen and kissed my parents on the cheek before walking out of the dinning room. Hurrying up the stairs, I tried to not think about the windows, as well as my gift. Damien or whoever this person was, doubt he is related to me in the slightest bit. I mean I know not all my family members have curly hair or blond hair. Hell some can tan very well but that doesn't make me adopted. And if this person is my  _'biological Father'_ , then why hasn't he tried to contact me before? Or why hasn't he at least tried to visit?

Also, just how poor did this guy have to be to not be able to afford having a child? I mean what, was he recently laid off from a job? Did he not have one? Was he an alcoholic? I mean what exactly was preventing him from taking care of me? I get that maybe my _'biological Mother'_ dying would kind of make it hard for him to want to be near me. Or want to be a parent. But...I don't know. I just can't really seem to believe him when he says that he's my Father.

Wouldn't my parents at one point have told me that they adopted me? I mean I think I'm old enough to handle this sort of thing. So why not tell me? When I walked into my room, I had this weird feeling that I was being watched. Like someone was hanging around my room. That didn't make sense. I'm on the second floor of my house, my door is shut and the curtains are closed. But all the same I walked up to the windows and peeked out each curtain to see if someone was there. There was no one in the backyard that I could see, or in the trees. But I still felt uneasy. Fixing the curtains, I walked back to my bed and laid down to attempt to relax. It wasn't working too well. I still felt tense as all else and I couldn't get why I felt so worried. I got up, slipped out of bed and walked up to my book case. Then I grabbed my CD-player from the place I left it on the case and popped in a CD that I got from Stefan for my birthday. It was weird but I liked it. I put on the headphones, turned the volume up and hit play. Picked out my tattered copy of  _'Then There Were None'_  and went back to my bed. As I read the feeling started to go away and I began to somewhat relax. The tenseness began to fade but it was still there.

Chalked it up to nerves and figured that it was just me being nervous about a quiz tomorrow. It was a math test and despite how much I've studied, I felt like I was going to fail. Though, I'm not too sure why, but I'm guessing that maybe that wasn't the problem. But for now, I'm just gonna pretend nothing's wrong and focus on what i got on my plate instead. It's just the smarter thing to do.


	7. Younger Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new sibling appears and shows her things. About where she came from. Who Damian really is. And what he is as well.

A weight had settled itself at the foot of my bed. I sat up and before I could even say anything a hand covered my mouth. Then a soft male voice whispered," _ **Shh**...I'm not here to hurt you._ "

Suddenly the lamp near my bed is turned on and I struggled to focus. My eyes staring at the person as they removed their hand from my face. In a low voice, they continued," _I just wanted to talk to you is all._ "

" _Who are you?_ ",I asked in a voice still choked with sleep. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw a very young boy. Not much older than Stefan. Only his face was narrower as if he was a bit more grown up. His eyes are black and he had shaggier eyebrows. A much straighter nose and thin lips.

The boy was a bit thicker than him too. Wore dark jeans, a t-shirt, and no shoes. And his voice was far more mature than my little brother's. He answers," _My name is Alexandru."_

" _Alexandru...alright._ ",I stated narrowing my eyes at him. I asked," _How old are you?_ "

" _I'm twelve, ma'am._ ",he answered. I ignored the  _ **'ma'am'**_ part and questioned," _You do know that breaking into someone's house is **wrong** don't you?_"

" _ **I know.**  But I wanted to see you. Dad talks about you alot and I wanted to know what you were like._",he said with a shrug of his thin shoulders. Almost like it hadn't really meant anything. And he looked me in the eye asking," _You won't call the cops on me, will you?_ "

Looking at him up and down I questioned," _Did you break anything on the way in? Or hurt anyone?_ "

" _No._ "

" _Then I won't._ ",I told him. Alexandru sighed with what I was guessing relief. With a smile, he said," _Good._ "

" _But you better not break into my house again._ ",I warned him. I shifted my legs to the side of the bed. And put on the slippers that I kept next to the nightstand. I walked up to the windows to see if he'd either broken them. Or if he'd managed to somehow open one of them. I asked," _How did you get in here?_ "

" _I jimmied the lock on the kitchen door._ ",he said. Looking over at him, I was slightly impressed. Frowning, I stated," _...huh. **Cool. Never** do that again._"

" _Okay. But if I knock next time, will you let me in?_ ",he asked me with big puppy dog eyes. Puppy dog eyes always worked for my little brother. They definitely were working for him. So I stated," _Yes. I will let you in, Alexandru._ "

Smiling he says," _Good._ "

I smiled back as I walked back over to the bed and plopped down next to him. A slightly thoughtful look crosses his features. Then he reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a piece of paper that looked like he had written on it. Shyly he asks," _Mind if I interview you?_ "

" _Not at all._ ",I said shrugging. He glances down the list and I state," _Just as long as I can question you back._ "

" _Okie dokie._ ",he told me. Looking over at me then down at the paper he asks," _How old are you?_ "

" _Seventeen. Just how are we related other than we have the same father?_ ",I asked. The young man answered," _He created me. Made me like him, what you're half of._ "

Before I could ask him what that was he questions," _Do you like hamburgers extra rare?_ "

" _No. I prefer medium rare._ ",I informed him. That wasn't the end of the weird questions. He continued to ask things like," _Did you have weird dreams in which you were flying?_ "

I told him no and when I asked him," _Do you go to school?_ "

" _No._ ",he answered. I raised a brow at this and asked," _But you're **twelve.**   **Why aren't**  you in school?_"

" _I'm a **vampire.**  I don't have to go to school._",he answered in a very matter of fact tone. And then continued," _Also I'd die if I went into the sunlight._ "

" _...you are not a vampire._ ",I said narrowing my eyes at him. A glint of mischief flickered in his eyes and he says," _Yes I am. And I can prove it._ "

" _Oh really?_ ",I asked crossing my arms. Alexandru turned away from me for a minute and I heard this odd growling noise come from him. When he turned back, I scrambled backward on my bed. To get away from him with my hands over my mouth. His teeth were like shark's teeth and his eyes were completely blackened. In a deep, horrific voice he hisses," ** _Still don't think I'm a vampire?_** "

" _I...I believe you. Stop doing that please?_ ",I asked in a soft voice. With a simple shake of his head, I watched his features soften back to the young tweenager he'd been before. His grin grew into a cocky smirk that faded when he looked at the door and whispered," _ **Shit.**  I woke someone up..._"

I looked over at the door and then back at him to see that he was no longer there. A knock came to my bedroom door and I quickly turned off the lamp then under the covers before the bedroom light itself turned on.

" _ **Nina?** I thought I heard talking in here.. **what's going on?**_ ",my Dad questioned his voice thick with tiredness. I held my hand over my eyes and answered," ** _Nothing._**  I was sleeping."

I squirmed under my covers as he asks,"Are you sure? _"_

"Dad, you were probably just dreaming. Maybe you should go back to bed.",I said turning to my other side. He sighs as he turns off the light and says,"Okay then. Good night."

Holding my breath, I listened to the sound of his footsteps for a few minutes. His bedroom door opens and shuts then they continue for a few seconds before they stop entirely. Alexandru whispers," _I don't suppose I could just stay here?_ "

" _If you can find a way to hide in my bag under there. Yeah._ ",I whispered back. A few minutes later, I heard the zipper on the bag I kept under there for vacations. Then I heard awkward noises of him grunting, tucking himself into an uncomfortable position and then the zipper closing the bag. Snuggling into my bed, I whisper," _Good night, Dru..._ "

A soft voice whispered something I couldn't make out and then I slowly fell asleep. Dreaming of nothing more than just flying high over a city. With wind blowing through my hair and a smile on my face.


	8. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telling her friends about everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crappy summary but it was all I could think of.

When I got up a few hours later. My head felt thick and heavy like it was made of wood. I slid out of bed and made it. Then I slowly made my way to my dresser. As I picked out my clothes for the day, I began to think about what Dru had said. I wasn't exactly sure he was even real in the slightest bit. After all, why would I have reason to believe that a vampire would exist. Hell, my own  _'little brother'_ at that. I pulled off my nightgown and yanked on my favorite shirt over my head. Pulled out a black pair of pants then slipped them on quickly as I heard my dad shout," ** _Nina! De! Stefan! Time for breakfast!_** "

I brushed my hair into a long ponytail and then took the pretty necklace from it's hiding spot. For like a couple of minutes I thought of wearing it. Instead I shoved it into my back pocket. Then I walked out of my room only stopping once to grab my backpack from the hook I've always got it on. De was already running past me in her usual kind of outfit. A dark grey short sleeved shirt underneath overalls and black boots. Her red hair was spiked up in a faux hawk. When she turned to look at me, I saw she had her normal make up on.

"Good morning.",I stated with a small smile. She nodded at me and continued to hurry down the stairs. I followed after her as she asks,"You seem happy. Got something planned this weekend?"

"Nah. Just in a good mood is all.",I stated with a shrug of my shoulders. As we got into the dinning room. I saw my little brother decked out in black with a red scarf around his neck. I sat down in my usual spot and said nothing as he toyed with the scarf. My little brother was always a bit weird so it never really surprised me that he'd do this. My face must have shown more curiosity than I intended because he glared at me. In a low voice, he snapped,"What?"

"Nothing. You look nice.",I told him. He only sneered at me and picked up a muffin from the table. I was about to ask him what his problem was when Dad came in asking," _Are you high?_  It's gonna be hotter than Hell outside. Why are you wearing so much black?"

"Nina and De wear a lot of dark clothing, why can't I?",he asked in a whiny tone. I stated,"Stefan, I don't go outside all the time. And De wears light clothing when she's outside for a long time."

"And Dad's not telling you that you can't wear dark clothing he's just trying to make sure you're not over heated.",De reasoned as she poured her usual cereal into a bowl. I nodded in agreement and Dad asks,"Do you think you won't get over heated in all that?"

"Yes.",he says rolling his eyes. He starts picking at his muffin as Dad states,"Alright. But don't blame me if you feel sick at the end of the day."

Well. This is the first time I've seen him act like this. I decided to ignore it and grab a muffin as I heard Cassie pull up. I got up saying,"Well that's my ride. See ya guys."

They call out their usual goodbyes as I hurried out the room and then out of the house. Cassie had her hair up in a braid and when I got in I saw that Honey had her hair shaved very close to her scalp. I stated,"Nice hair cut, Honey."

"Thanks. Cassie did this for me last night.",she said as she ran her hands over it. She asked,"Any dreams of flying?"

" _Yeah..also I got a uh... **visitor** last night._",I told her. Cassie glanced at me through the rear view mirror as she drove and asked,"Oh. Who was it?"

"Apparently it was my  _ **'little brother'.**_  And he told me that he was a _..well._ ",I trailed off. I bit my lip and sighed as I said,"He told me he was a vampire."

Aside from the music playing on the radio, there wasn't a sound from either of them. A few minutes passed as they glanced back at me, then at each other and then they both started laughing.

When they were both done, Cassie was the only one who realized that I was absoutely serious. She asks,"He really believes he's a vampire?"

"He's shown me that he's a vampire.",I answered. As I told them about Alexandru, how he came into my room and how I wasn't too sure that he was real. I shrugged as Honey asked,"How are you not sure that he's not real?"

"Would you blame me? I've had vivid dreams before and I'm not too sure that he wasn't one of them.",I explained as we arrived at the school's parking lot. It had felt more dream like than real. Especially since I wasn't too sure how he found me. He said our 'father' told him about it and I'm not quite too sure that he's telling the truth. I stated,"But that's really not the weirdest part of it."

"There's more?",Honey asked as she looked back at me. I pulled out the necklace from my front pocket as I said,"I got this in a present from the guy that Alexandru told me was our father. He literally broke into my house and left a gift for me like nothing was wrong with that."

"So he's basically like a fucked up version of Santa Claus.",Cassie offers. She parks the car and turns to me questioning,"Did you tell your parents about this?"

"No. And I know that's stupid but I'm not too sure how to phrase this. Or even tell them that this guy told me that I was adopted.",I said as I put the necklace back in my pocket. Honey states,"How about you show them the necklace and just come clean. They'll get pissed but you can deal with a grounding better than some psycho vamp wannabe trying to kill you."

"Easy to talk about, not easy to do.",I pointed out. But they were right. I needed to talk to them about what I've found and about my  _'little brother'_  . Cassie says,"True. But it's either that or having them discover that you've been hiding this and get in worse trouble than you'll get now."

"Fine. I just hope that that they tell me that ths guy is lying and that they make Damien leave me alone.",I stated toying with my nails. Honey adds,"And Alexandru gets to stay."

"I kind of want him to stay. But how would that work?",I asked. Toying with the straps of my backpack. I continue,"I mean what? Are we just gonna keep him in the basement and give him rats or blood from a butcher?"

That worried a bit. Because most people don't leave things alone once they hear about something weird. And if someone found out that we have a vampire in the basement or wherever Alexandru would like to sleep. They'd either try to kill him or try to turn him into some little gimmick for a dumb movie. Or whatever sick thing they'd want to try to this little kid. I wasn't going to think about that and I got out of the car as quick as possible with my friends following after. I stated,"I just hope that no one finds out about this. After all. I don't need that kind of popularity."

"Well, I don't think anyone's really gonna believe it.",Honey offers. I ask,"How come you guys believe it?"

"We saw you sorta flying yesterday and after seeing that it's kind of easy to believe anything.",Cassie says in a gentle tone. Patting my shoulder, Honey continues,"Besides we know your not type of person who lies about shit."

I smiled as we to my up to my locker and I say,"I'm lucky I've got weird friends like you. Otherwise I'd probably be in a padded room somewhere, in a coat that helps me hug myself. Drooling."

"Yep.",Cassie says with a cheesy grin. Honey rolls her eyes and chuckles,"Then you'll end up like those girls on that show  _'Mystical'._  What were their names again?"

"I think it was Jean and Pam Rider?",I offered. We watch that show on fridays when we get the chance. It's this weird show about two  _'sisters'_ ( _ **the actresses do not look related in the slightest bit**_ ) who hunt and fight evil together in a beat up old car. And have an angel for a best friend named  _'Haniel'._  I giggled,"I don't mind that. So long as I can look as pretty as Jean did in the hospital outfit."

I winked at both of them as I pulled out my first class book and started walking away. Honey follows after me saying,"Nina, you're a weirdo."

"Thank you!"


	9. Coming Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telling her parents wasn't easy. But she knew that she had to sometime. Even if it wasn't easy for her.

When I came home from school, I thought I should check on Dru. Just to see how he had been doing. So when I came into my room, I locked the door and walked over to the bed. Pulled the suitcase out from under the bed as carefully as I could and unzipped it a bit. I whispered,"Dru, are you up?"

"Mmn...",his voice came out. Figuring that it was probably a bit too early for him, I re-zipped it and carefully put him back under my bed. Maybe I wouldn't have to tell my parents about him. He wasn't exactly a problem for me just yet and I know how to kill a vampire if I need to. ( _Okay watching vampire movies doesn't make me an expert but it does help a little bit._ ) But I had to tell my parents about the necklace and the man who claimed to be my Father. And now would be better than, three weeks from now, due to the whole I could get into deep ass trouble. After putting away my things I went downstairs and called out,"Dad? Mom? You guys home?"

" _ **Nina?**_ ",my dad's voice called out from the basement. As I walked up to the door, I asked," ** _I need to tell you something, could you please come up here?_** "

" ** _Sure. Give me a second!_** ",he shouted to me. I sat down at the dinner table as I waited for Dad to come upstairs. And when he came upstairs, I noted he had a great deal of dust in his blond hair. I raised a brow at the outfit he was wearing, a blue plaid shirt along with dirty gray jeans. He asks,"What?"

"What are you doing downstairs?",I questioned as he sat down. Dad answers,"I was trying to look for your old baby stuff. Your cousin needs them for her baby."

"Oh. Okay then.",I stated shrugging. Toying with the necklace in my pocket my father asks,"So what's going on?"

I pulled the necklace from my pocket and I said,"I found this yesterday in my bedroom along with a note. The note said that I was adopted and that this person was my father."

He took the necklace from my hand, glanced it over with a worried expression on his face and he questions,"Where is the note?"

"My bedroom. I'll go get it.",I told him. I got out of the chair and ran upstairs and into my room. Grabbed the note off my dresser and ran back downstairs with it saying,"It says the guy's name is Damien Drasen."

I handed him the note when I reached the table, he read it over for like a second before he asks,"So, you waited until now to tell me?"

"I wasn't too sure how to tell you and Mom about this. It's not exactly something I could easily talk about and I didn't want to scare you.",I said fidgeting with the edge of my shirt. He looked up at me with an annoyed look on his face as he said,"Nina, I wouldn't have been scared. I would have been worried."

" _...Oh...wait_  is what he said, true?",I asked as he crumpled the letter up and then plays with the paper ball as he stammers," _It...well, Nina. H..it.. **it is true.**  Yes. You were adopted but. But it really d-doesn't matter. You're my daughter and I love you very much._"

" _It doesn't matter? What if I was **deathly sick** and **needed a transplant?**  Or what if he decided to come to the house one day and demand that he could see me?_",I asked hearing my voice go up several octaves. Grabbing the edge of the chair, I felt the oddest thing happen.

It broke. But I didn't care. I was too angry to care that somehow, I had broken a bit of the chair that, I wouldn't have ever before. I continued," _You fucking think that doesn't matter in the slightest bit? Who are you to decide that I know nothing of the parent that had given me up? That I know NOTHING about the family that I might have?_ "

" _I'm your Father!_ ",myDadstated as he stood up out of the chair. I snapped," ** _And how does that give you the right to lie to me for my entire life?_** "

I turned away from him, ran up to my room and shut the door behind me as carefully as I could. ( _As mad as I was at my Dad, I wasn't going to ruin my door._ ) It made me so mad that he was okay with the idea of lying to me about me being adopted, I felt like screaming. Sure telling your child that they're adopted would probably be hard to do but for crying out loud! When they get to be my age wouldn't it be better to tell them before they find out from someone else? I mean I'm kind of surprised that they kept it secret for so long. You would have thought that someone would have told me that I was adopted or that my real Dad would have shown up. Then what would they have done? Lied to me and said to me was a lie?

I doubt that I won't be grounded for not showing them this, but I just want the whole damn truth. Like why exactly they didn't tell me this and if they knew the reason why I was given up. Sitting down on my bed, I looked up at the ceiling hoping to find animals in the cracks there were there like when I was little. I used to find horses, elephants and one time a fae. But now all I see are tiny cracks in my ceiling. Nothing more and nothing less.

A few hours later, I jumped when I heard a knock at my door and I called out," ** _Yeah?_** "

" _ **It's me, Deanna.**_ ",my sister answered hesitantly. She opened the door and peeked her head in asking," ** _Mind if I come in?_** "

" ** _Don't care._** ",I said shrugging as I sat up in bed. After she came in and closed the door she stated,"Dad told me to come up here to tell you dinner is ready and that you're grounded for a very long time for not telling him about the necklace."

"Alright. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes.",I told her. Deanna walks over to my bed and sits down at the end of the bed. She asks,"So, you're adopted? Hard to believe."

"Yeah. Especially since I never felt like I wasn't apart of the family.",I said looking her in the eyes. Toying with my hair, I state,"I um. I also know who the dhampir is that you know."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's me isn't it?",I asked. When she nods her head, I ask,"Can you tell me more about them? I know only a little bit about vampires from movies."

"They can handle sunlight better than vampires, don't have to really drink blood like they do and die of bone related diseases.",she answered. Calmly she continues,"I am not too sure what that means. It could mean living or it could mean other unfun things."

" _Oh. That's **lovely.**_ ",I stated rolling my eyes. That's what I got to look forward to. Dying of a horrible little disease that I'll be wondering how I got. Deanna sighs and says,"Maybe you'll be fine."

" _ **Maybe**_   _I'll die._ ",I stated looking her in the face. My little sister shrugs her shoulders as she tells me,"Big maybes. I'd be more worried about the possible psycho vamp that's coming for ya."

"Psycho vamp who's my biological father."

" _...sorry._  So do you want to talk to him?",she asked as I got off my bed. I answered,"No. Not really. I mean if he has a really good reason for not coming to me instead of just breaking into the house. Then yeah."

I start to walk downstairs with Deanna following after me saying,"I think you should try to get him to talk to you in a public place. That way he won't get a chance to hurt you and you can talk to him."

"Maybe.",I told her as we walked into the dinning room. Mom and Dad were whispering to each other when we came in. Mom was looking a bit upset and when she saw me, she says,"Nina, I..don't know what to tell you about this. We meant to tell you that you were adopted but..."

"We weren't too sure how to say it.",my Dad finished for her. He poked at the steak that was on his plate with a fork. I toyed with the one on my plate as he stated,"I'm really sorry for this. Nina. We just didn't really...we're really..."

"Sorry?",I asked raising a brow. They glanced at each other and my Mom says,"Yes. I really wish we'd told you this sooner. But this isn't exactly something you just tell a child."

She is right but I didn't like not being told either way. Just made me feel like they didn't think I could handle it at all. Like I was too fragile to handle it. I nodded and then I questioned,"How long am I grounded for?"

"I'll tell you when your not grounded. Until then. No texting and no using the laptop.",my Dad said. He starts cutting into his steak as he continued,"If your biological Father wants to meet you, he should come himself."

"And when he does?"

"We'll all meet him.",Mom said. I glanced to the empty chair next to me and I ask,"So where's Stefan?"

"He's at a friend's house for dinner.",Dad told me. He started eating his steak and I started digging into mine. I was trying to picture what my father could look like and what he was like. But every time I imagined him all the picture I got my head was a funky little caricature of Dracula. I wonder if he could take a picture or not and I really wonder if he can look in the mirror. Sometime tonight, I'm going to have to ask Alexandru about that and what our mutual parent looks like. Hopefully he'll be awake after dinner, no way in hell am I waking up a vampire from his slumber. I might not be able to keep a limb if I try it that way.


	10. Melodramatic Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things that she questioned are brought to light. Along with other things she didn't want to know. Nina didn't want to know these things. But she has to.

Alexandru was hard to talk to about our  _'Father'_ , he seemed so very loving towards him. Despite not being his biological child. He told me everything about him and was speaking like this man was perfect. I toyed with the edge of my shirt a bit more as I asked,"What does he look like?"

"I think I got a picture of him with me. Hang on a second.",he said. He quickly searched all of his pockets until he found it. It was in his back pocket. With a grin he stated,"He looks a lot like you, Nina."

This guy definitely had the same eye color as I do. Hair almost as curly as mine. His eyes were of a similar shape that were somewhat fitting for his face shape. But he had thicker lips with a hint of a smirk in the left corner. Damien wasn't exactly fit but he wasn't all that over weight either, just a bit soft. It was a bit hard to tell with the dark clothing he was wearing.

"How old is he by the way?",I questioned. I handed the picture back to him with a small smile. Alexandru slips the photo back into the pocket it had been in. He answers,"Fourty three."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's fourty three years old.",he said. Shrugging his shoulders and adding,"Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Nah. I just sorta thought he'd be older is all. You know like vampires in the media and all that.",I explained. Feeling my face heat up a bit. Laughing a little he said,"Well some vampires are over a hundred. But there really isn't as many as humans think there are."

"So like, three thousand or so?"

"No at least fifty thousand.",he stated so very casually. Okay, I really hate to see what he thinks a lot is. I took the chair from my desk and walked it to his side of the room. When I set it down and sat down, he asks,"Nina? Do you want to visit him?"

"Not really. I'd prefer it if he'd just come here.",I told him. It isn't that I didn't want to meet the guy, I'd just prefer to do it with other people around. I wasn't too sure what he's really like. And as nice as Alex was making him out to be...I was still a bit hesitant to want to be alone with him. After all he did break into my house to tell me something instead of just leaving it on the front porch. He nods and offers,"I could have him come over if you'd like. He'd probably want to meet your  _'parents'_ anyway."

Dru air quoted the word parents and I frowned at this. And I said,"I'd like that. Just be sure that my parents don't see you leave. They might not approve of you being in the house all this time."

He nodded with a smile before leaving quietly and quickly. I held my breath as I listened for someone to yell or shout that he was there. But there wasn't any. When I let out a sigh, I realized how silly I was being and got up out of the chair. Taking the chair back to the desk, I hummed a tune I used to sing in school. Then I walked over to my book case, pulled out one of my old favorites and went over to my bed. I sat down on the side of the bed and started reading as I tried to not get too nervous. But after a while I began to realize that I was reading the same page twice. Setting the book down on the bed, I laid down and tried to relax. I couldn't. My stomach twisted in a knot at the idea of him coming here and meeting my parents. How was this going to go down? It'd be either really interesting or really scary. Each time I tried to go over scenerios in my mind...none of them really ended well.

The first scenario I had in mind was that he'd come here. My parents would invite him in and he'd kill my entire family. Then he'd try to take me with him, I'd refuse and he'd kill me.

Second was that he'd come over, talk to my parents. And somehow they'd let him take me with him. And I'd never see them again.

Third was that he'd come over, show my parents how vampirey he is. Both would call me down and I'd have to explain this to them. I didn't tell them that he was a vampire and it would probably freak the hell out of them.

But the Fourth scenerio seemed more realistic. Like he'd come here. They'd listen to him for a bit, threaten to call the cops and have him not come near me or my family anymore.

The fourth scenerio didn't really scare me. I was kind of hoping that maybe my parents would make him leave us alone. My parents aren't rude though. They'd probably tell him off but they'd let him stick around. I don't hate Damien. I'm not scared of him really. It's...I just don't really know him all that well. All I do know is stuff from Alexandru-but he's twelve years old and is sorta seriously biased. I really wasn't too sure that I could believe in just what my  _'little brother'_ tells me.

A loud knock brought me out of my thoughts and I sat up in bed quickly. Getting off my bed, I ran out of my room and down the hall in time to see my Dad open the door. And there he was, standing there looking all sorts of awkward was Damien. He had on a dark blue long sleeved shirt along with black jeans and big boots. I noticed that neither of them had seen me just yet and made sure I wasn't about to be. Hiding behind a wall I watched them look each other over. My Dad leans against the door frame as he asks,"May I help you?"

"Yes. My name is Damien Drasen. I'm here to visit my daughter, Christina.",he said his voice much deeper than I thought it was. It had no accent like I thought it was going to and I the familiar burn of a blush as I pressed my hand over my eyes. I heard my Dad say,"I see. Well. I'm not quite too sure she wants to meet you."

"How about we let her decide, sir.",Damien said sounding a bit annoyed. I opened my fingers to see that he was looking up at me intently. Dad looked up at me before turning to glare at him. His shoulders tensed a bit as he asked,"Nina, do you want him to come in?"

"Yes. I want him to come in.",I told him as I started walking down the stairs quickly. With a sigh, he says,"Fine. Come on in then."

Damien pushed past my Dad with a small grin, came right up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. I pushed away from him rolling my eyes and walked with him to the living room. My Mom was already in there with a book and when we came in she looked up. She set her book down as she asked,"Oh. Hello. Who are you?"

"Mom this is Damien. He's the guy that I told you and Dad about.",I said toying with the edge of my shirt. I sat down next to my Mom on the couch, Damien holds his hand out to my mother as he says,"It's nice to meet you...?"

"Patricia. And it's nice to put a face to a name.",she stated as she took his hand and shook it. After he lets go of her hand, he sits down on the arm chair next to the couch as he states,"I'm just happy to meet you."

Dad came in to the living room and sat on the other side of me. He leans back against the couch and puts his arms on the top of the couch as he asks,"You did huh? Just why would you want to meet us for?"

"I want to know who my child is being raised by and who her. As well as ask a few questions.",he explained. My Mom glanced over at him and sighs and she asks,"Alright. Well what do you want to ask us?"

"What was Christina's first word?",he questioned. Mom thought for a few minutes before Dad answered,"It was  _ **'Dada'**_."

He seemed very smug when he said that but Damien didn't seem to care as he questioned,"What are your full names?"

"Coltin Parker.",Dad stated. Damien glanced over at my mother and she sighed,"It's Patricia Morggs."

"Alright. Does she have any allergies?"

"She can't wear silver, eat garlic or even touch it without problems.",Mom stated. I crossed my arms as I said," _I could have answered that one._ "

"Sorry. When did you adopt Nina?",he asked. Dad and Mom look at each other before mother answers,"A bit after her birth."

"Was it legal?"

"Yes. It was.",Dad snapped. Damien nods a bit and asks,"Do you know why she was given to you?"

" _...we were told that the mother had..had...umm..._ ",my mother trailed off. I looked over at her and asked,"She had what Mom?"

"Baby, you don't want to know.",she said as she picked up her book and started toying with it. I asked,"Mom. Please? What happened to my biological mother?"

" _Nina... **she died**..._ "


	11. Crashing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's scary to know these things. But it's better to have them out in the open. Even if they seem unrealistically dramatic.

" _...uhh... **excuse me?**_ ",I asked. My life was turning into a poorly written soap opera before my eyes. She died?  _Like some anime mom did?_ I...Mom was looking at me funny. Then she said,"She died, Nina. Your mother had a condition that made childbirth impossible. And she wasn't in the hospital at the time."

" _...holy shit..._ ",I said quietly. This time Mom and Dad didn't say anything or yell at me for swearing. In fact they seemed weirdly understanding that I was swearing like this. But the fact Damien hugged me was what surprised me. He got up so quickly too that I hadn't seen him move until I was in his arms. Then he said," _I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Nina._ "

"Stop, just stop talking. And don't hug me.",I said. And I removed his hands from my body as I looked up at him. This was turning out to be a huge plot to some freaky supernatural soap opera. All we need is a werewolf and we'd be set. No wait...a witch and ghost too. Those are the general Hollywood cliches that Hollywood works on. It'd be easier with those guys too. I wonder when one of those show up. And please tell me the ghost won't be my bio-mother. Please tell me the ghost won't be my bio-mother. I don't need my bio-mother _...uggh... **anyways**._  I said,"Please don't act like you care. I seriously doubt you actually do."

" _I do care. You're my daughter for fucks sake!_ ",he snapped at me. His hands on his hips like an angry parent would. Well. Fitting considering who he's supposed to be. I guess. But it's annoying none the less. I glare right back at him and took a step back. In an angry voice, I asked,"How come you've never tried to contact me before all of this? Why have your fledgling break into my house? In fact why did you break into our home instead of leaving the present outside?"

"Okay that is more than enough.",Dad said. He stood up quicker than I've ever seen him in my life. And so did Mom. They quickly get between him and me. Mom put an arm in front of me as she said,"I can't believe you're that kind of a creepy person and act so entitled around us. Get out."

"What?",he asked. Damien looks at them like they seem to have gone crazy. Or something to that effect. I couldn't help but smile as I watched my parents. My father said,"You heard the lady, Damien. Get the Hell out of our house or we're calling the cops."

Damien looks over at me with this look of... _devastation?_  I couldn't be sure. As I watched him leave,he said,"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so awful..I just wanted to meet you,Nina. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you."

"I...if it's okay with you all, could I come back tomorrow after sunset? I want to show Nina the things I had with Norma.",he said. Dad and Mom look at me as if they want my permission. I kind of want to talk to him more about Norma and him. Like why he hadn't come for me when I was born or why after. How he couldn't seem to take me in when he was the only person I had at that time. But _...I dunno._  Maybe not yet. I asked,"A couple of days? Please. Until we can all be here to see you?"

"Um...okay,Nina. If that's what you'd prefer.",he said. I gave him a half hearted smile and then I said,"Yes. I'd like that very much, Damien."

"Okay.",he said quietly. Then he left house. It took a few minutes for me to listen for that. I felt kind of awkward sitting behind both my parents like this. They turned to look at me and I smiled politely. Dad sits next me with a confused look as he asked,"But your siblings are here. Why did you say that?"

"I meant when Dru was here too. I want you guys to meet him.",I said. And that was the absolute truth. I did want them to meet Dru. But I also wanted to mentally prepare myself for the whole  _'how I met your mother'_  thing that I thought a few days would help. That was probably the most obvious reason. So when Mom sat down, I said,"I also am really scared to find out about my biological parents. Like I don't even know how to process all of this. Vampires and stuff...I'm so confused."

"Well you're not the only one, Nina.",Mom said. She hugged me tight as Dad nods and said,"It's kind of sudden. But at least you're old enough to understand now and he's here now. And you've got us to help you."

"And us!",De's voice said. Coming from the stairs and I heard Stefan say to her to shut up. Then they come out of hiding and walk up to us. Both look guilty as hell as De said,"I just thought you should know that we're here to support you. So would Cassie and Honey."

"Especially Cassie and Honey.",Stefan said. I know that they would. I also know that they have my back entirely if I need them to. This was kind of wonderfull to know. Though I'm not too sure how well they'd fair against a vampire like him. I doubt that they'd be like that. It'd be difficult for them to fight. Me as well. So I pulled them close and hugged them as I said,"Thanks guys. You're the best..."

"You're still grounded for not telling us about this,Nina.",Mom said. She sits down next to me and hugs me tight. Then she said,"For two days at least. So long as you don't hide anything else from us."

"Yeah. Like more relatives like him.",Dad said. He hugged us all as he said,"I do want to meet this Dru kid. He sounds kind of  _famil..._ you had him hiding in your room, didn't you?"

"How'd you know?",I asked. Dad gives a soft sigh and said,"Well. I figured as much. This is turning out to be an interesting day...I can't wait to actually meet him for real instead of just listening to his voice muffled through your door."


	12. Time with Dru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina gets to spend time with her brother. Find out more about him and their father. As well as about his situation. What he says next surprises her.

The next two days went by fast. I had spent a lot of time planning on what I should be asking Damian. Which proved to be much more difficult than I first anticipated it would be. What do you ask someone who claims to be your bio-father? And is the most popular supernatural creature to date? It isn't like there's others like me online. As far as I could find at least. The few that seemed real were just seriously detailed role playing communities. Who probably wouldn't give any decent advice on this subject. After all, they weren't really vampires or dhampir like me. These were just people playing as characters for fun.

 

Don't get me wrong, that's really cool in all. It really is. But it just isn't really all that helpful to me. So I've been trying to check other sites. Anywhere that could at least give me some ideas on how to handle this. All I've come up with so far was nothing. I guess I might not be looking in the right places. Either way, I'm done for now. This is just too much right now. It's like I've been tossed into a crappy melodramatic soap opera. One that's probably written by a drunken Stephanie Meyer. Shutting off my phone, I put it under my pillow. Then I laid back on my bed as I thought of what to ask him. Like what he had been doing for the past few years. How did he get a twelve year old son? In fact is Dru his son at all? If not, why the Hell is he hanging out with a kid for? And would I be able to protect Dru from him if I need to?

 

All these thoughts ran around in my head as I tried to relax. Maybe I should've asked Dru about this before he left. It also would've been a good idea to ask him if he has a phone or not. I got no idea how else I'm going to talk to him. Though I don't see how he could have one. Him and Damien are vampires. So how the Hell would they have been able to afford that? Unless there's a cell phone company that has supernatural creature plan, I don't see him having one. I tried to think of how that would work. It didn't really seem plausible. At least not outside of some lousy TV show. As I pondered this, I heard a knock on my door followed by Deanna's voice. She asked,"Nina, there's some weird kid out here that says he knows you. Do you wanna talk to him?"

 

Getting up, I hurried over to the door and opened it. Dru was standing next to Deanna with a sheepish grin on his face. He toyed with his shirt as I nodded my head. And I said,"Yes I'd like to talk to him."

 

Dru rushed into my room and plopped himself down on my bed. I told Deanna who he was. Then I introduced Deanna to him. Both awkwardly waved at each other. Shutting my door, I asked,"So any specific thing you want to talk about, Dru?"

 

Looking over at him, he shook his head. That seemed a little weird to me. But I guess he just wanted to visit me. And I questioned,"Did you just come over to see me?"

 

He nodded his head in agreement. This was pretty sweet. And it gives me the opportunity to ask more about his life. Mostly about how he met Damian. As I sat down next to him, he said,"I just wanted to get away from Dad for a while. He's been trying to get you stuff for the next time he comes over."

 

"How can he afford to buy me anything?",I asked. Then again night shifts existed. So maybe I'm overthinking on how he could have a job. It might not be that hard for him to have one. Dru answered,"He sells stuff online. It's mostly weird junk that he makes himself."

 

"Where online does he sell his stuff?",I asked. Maybe he sold his stuff on E-bay or something like that. I was a bit shocked to find that he sold things on Etsy. Sure it was a site for selling stuff too but I didn't think he'd use it. So I asked,"What's his shop called?"

 

"It's 'Vamp Pop' or something like that.",he answered. Looking a bit embarrassed by Damian's weirdness. The name wasn't exactly as weird as I thought it would be. I guess he could've been more blatant about himself. Seriously? 'Vamp Pop'? Why not go with 'Bloodsucker Dad' or something goofy like that? I must have made a weird face cuz Dru was sighing. He said,"I know it's really stupid. But he just wanted the name for some reason. And I couldn't talk him out of it either."

 

"Yeah, that is pretty weird...did he tell you what he was gonna get me?",I asked. Hoping that Dru would ruin the surprise for me. I kind of don't like the idea of Damian pushing gifts onto me. He probably thinks that he owes me for all the birthdays he missed. As well as holidays that he missed too. Well...maybe he does. But I'd rather get a gift from him that was out of love instead of guilt. Dru shook his head again. Giving me a slight sly smile as he said,"No. But even if he did, I wouldn't tell you. Gifts are supposed to be a surprise, Nina."

 

"You're no fun.",I muttered. Playfully sticking my tongue out at him. I couldn't fault him for wanting to keep it a secret. But I really wanted to know what I was getting. I've never really been a patient person. So I decided to ask,"I've been meaning to ask you. How did you meet Damian?"

 

"...well...he saved me from a group of other vampires.",Dru answered. This isn't what I expected to hear from him. And he stares down at his hands for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he continued,"I used to be with a group of vampires. They used kids to lure in humans so they could kidnap and feed on them."


	13. Dru's Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Child used as human bait. Not the thing you'd expect from your adopted sibling...

That wasn't exactly something that I had anticipated to hear from him. It was tear jearkingly tragic and horrifying. Like some sort of crime drama with vampires. He continued on about how the process went. Dru would be dressed up in tattered clothes and forced into the streets. Usually places that were highly populated. They wouldn't let him back in until he got someone. Which he usually had done. Most folks felt bad for a little kid like him. So they'd help him find his way home easily. Rarely did he have to hide himself in places. When Damian had came up to him, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to go back. And that he'd have to hide in an abandoned building before dawn came. At first, he thought that Damian was a human. Due to how his skin looked. But when he got closer, he realized he was wrong. Terribly wrong. Getting really scared he got up to leave when Damian had stopped him. 

 

He was so scared that he almost fainted. While he stood there frozen in fear, Damian said,"You poor child. You shouldn't be out here in the cold like this."

 

It seemed that Damian didn't realize he wasn't human. Or he at least thought that Damian didn't believe this. And he asked,"Do you need someone to walk you home, child? Where do you live? Who let you out here without a coat?"

 

Dru usually had something scripted beforehand. This time, he didn't know what to say. He'd never come across another vampire while he did this. Nor did he ever think that he would. In a soft voice, he said,"I don't have one. We can't afford it."

 

"Poor thing. Have my coat.",Damian said. His words sounded so genuinely caring that Dru didn't know what to do. Other than letting him drape his coat awkwardly over him. It was more kindness then he'd expected. And he mumbled a quiet thank you to him. Damian gave a polite smile and asked where he lived. Figuring that he wasn't interested in harming him, he lead him back to the place he called  _'home'_. It was a ramshackle place that looked like it had been abandoned for years. Dru half expected Damian to ask him if it was his home. Humans before him had. Each time he assured them it was where he lived. Which was the truth for the most part. He did live there. But Damian didn't ask questions like that. Instead he asked if he could see his parents. Which a few of his previous victims had enough mind to ask. Something about this felt off when Damian had asked it. Like he wanted to see them for some nefarious reason. Not the usual yelling about child welfare that humans had done. Not wanting to appear scared, he hurried inside and got one of the three men who forced him into it. Said man was annoyed with Dru's inability to get decent food but went outside anyway. What happened next wasn't what he anticipated. There were screams but they didn't sound like Damian. The screams sounded like they came from the captor. 

 

It frightened him as he watched the other men's expressions. Both men glanced at each other and then at the door. He guessed they were debating what to do. When one of them took a step forward, something was tossed into the room. It rolled a few times in front of them and stopped at his feet. The thing was the decapitated head of the man who walked out. That made the other men scared. They started cursing up a storm as Damian stepped into the room. Covered in blood with the man's body in hand. He tossed it away as he said,"I shouldn't be surprised that gutter creatures like you would do this. Toss a child out into the cold to get your prey _...so lazy...so **stupid**..._ "

 

Glaring at them, Dru recalled how the men got angry. Each of them looked angry as hell. They cursed at him. Telling him off for what he had done to their friend. Dru backed himself into a corner as he watched the men attack him. Or at least they tried to. It was the scariest fight he had ever seen and it was over within seconds. He stared at his feet as he said,"I won't go into detail. I just can't...it...that was the scariest part of my life and I'd rather not say."

 

"You don't have to, Dru.",I assured him. Patting his back gently as I processed this information. It sounded so strange that I could hardly believe it. But Dru couldn't have possibly lied about this sort of thing. There were to many details to the story and it seemed too plausible to be fake. I gently rubbed his back as he looked up at me. For a second he looked surprised by this. As if he expected me to ask him more about it. Then he hugged me tightly for a moment. In a gentle voice, he said,"Thank you."

 

"For what?",I asked. Utterly confused by him thanking me. It wasn't like I had done anything ground breaking. I just didn't want to make him talk about it. Dru pressed his cheek into my chest as he sighed. Looking up at me, he answered,"For not making me talk about all of that. Some people make me tell them because they think it'll help. It doesn't."

 

"It makes me more anxious.",he confessed. That didn't really surprise me. The fact that people who wanted to  _'help'_ made him say it. Or the fact that it made him anxious. After all, it wasn't an easy story to talk about. He was being used as bait for people. It probably was the least pleasant time in his life. And I continued to stroke his back gently as I said,"No problem, Dru. I bet that wasn't an easy time for you. I'm sorry that you had to go through that by yourself."

 

"It was hard. But I was lucky that Dad saved me. I'd hate to think where I'd be without him.",he said. His voice a bit muffled by my shirt. Now it made sense as to why he stuck around with Damian. I'd probably do the same if I felt that I owed him that much too. And I sighed softly as I looked at him. Though something about this felt off. As I let Dru relax in my embrace, I tried to think of what it was. But I couldn't. Nothing seemed off about Dru's story. I just couldn't figure out what it was though...


	14. Introduction to Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dru wants to meet Nina's other family members. She wonders if that's wise. Or if they'll get along at all.

We sat there for what was possibly an hour. Talking about the things that he had done. About how he felt he owed his life to Damian. It seemed as if he really cared about him too. Like any child would for their parent. I briefly wondered what he would do for Damian. A part of me felt like I was being overly dramatic. This was someone who immediately trusted me enough to tell me something that personal. There was no way he was emotionally manipulating me into trusting him. He was just a kid who wanted someone to talk to. That's all he is and I shouldn't be doubting him like this. After a few more minutes, my Mom called up to me. She shouted,"Time for dinner!!"

 

"Can I meet them?",Dru asked as I stood up. His request surprised me a little bit. I didn't think he'd want to meet them just yet. He hadn't really shown any interest in them before. But I figured there wasn't any harm in it. Not like he was going to hurt them. What reason would he have to do that? So I told him that he could and he got off the bed. In a moment, he was nothing but a blur before me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I followed after him. That was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. No one had ever been that happy to meet my parents before. It seemed really odd. But I hurried after him as quick as I could. As I headed down the stairs, I heard him introduce himself to my Mom. She sounded happy but surprised to meet him. And when I walked in, she asked,"Do you like human food, Dru? Or should we make you something else?"

 

"I can eat human food, Mrs. Parker.",he said in a gentle voice. Even though I couldn't see his face, I imagined he was grinning. This reminded me of all the times Stefan tried to get out of trouble. Except I could tell this was working for him. As my Mother told him to call her 'Patty' instead. I rolled my eyes at this and went back to the dining room. De and Stefan were already seated at the table. Stefan was dishing himself up some bread as he told De about his day. Only stopping to say hello to me. He said,"I almost beat Jeff on the rope climb today. I lost cuz I was really tired from running laps."

 

De looked a bit skeptical but didn't say anything. I couldn't blame her, Stefan was known for stretching the truth. But calling him out on it wasn't worth it. It wasn't hurting either of us to know anything. Anyway, he continued talking about his day. When he was finished, Dru walked in with my Mom. Holding a dish that was steaming in his hands. He stared at my siblings with a polite grin. One that looked a bit forced. Almost as if he was nervous to be around them or something like that. When he set down the pot, Stefan asked,"Who are you?"

 

"This is Dru. He's the kid that I told you about.",I answered. Dru nodded awkwardly at him and hurried around the table. Sitting down next to me as he stared at my brother. There was something off about how he looked at him. It was like he was jealous of him or something like that. But I could be imagining that. I toyed with my napkin for a little bit as he nodded. Mom started dishing up food for us. I asked,"Is Dad not joining us?"

 

"Your Father is going on a trip to help Jackson move to Maine.",she answered. I was surprised that Dad was doing that now. He told us that trip wouldn't be for another few weeks. And she told us that his friend needed to leave sooner than he thought. Well, that was quicker than expected. At least Dad's friend was going sooner rather than later. I think the reason he moved was to be closer to his parents. Anyway, I started eating my dinner as Mom dished up dinner. Dru hesitantly started eating his food as he watched my little brother. I can't exactly describe the way he's staring at him. It's like he's either jealous of him. Which wouldn't really make any sense to me. How could he be jealous of my little brother? It must be my imagination. So I pushed this to the back of my mind and kept eating. Halfway through dinner, Mom asked Dru some questions about himself. Mostly polite stuff that most parents asked. About how old he was. What he liked to eat and whether or not he liked video games. Of which he answered pretty quickly as Mom asked him. When Mom asked him about how he met Damian, he froze. Then he set his fork down on the table. In a gentle voice, he said,"I really don't want to talk about that, Patty. If that's alright with you..."

 

"That's fine, Dru. I completely understand.",Mom said. She gave him a polite smile as he started eating again. Poking at his food as he looked at me with a nervous glance. I moved my hand to pat his back gently. And I continued eating my food as we ate in silence. No one wanting to say anything else. For at least ten minutes at least. Then Stefan asked,"Hey, Dru?"

 

"Yes?",he questioned as he looked at my brother. Stefan was grinning from ear to ear as he asked,"You ever play Overwatch?"

 

When Dru shook his head, he asked,"It's a really fun game and I think you might like it. Want me to teach you how to play it?"

 

Dru seemed to consider this for a moment and nodded his head. Then he answered,"Sounds cool, I'm in."

 

My little brother seemed thrilled with this. And he started telling Dru about what the game was all about. I smiled as I watched him talk in detail about his favorite game. It was a pretty cool game and I'd played it a few times. I've also watched him play it a few times. Usually against easy mode AI bots. Which was fine. Lots of other people played on that mode as well. Stefan was happiest playing that way. It was kind of adorable watching him. I somewhat wondered how Dru was going to fair playing this game. So when we were done eating, I followed both boys. My sister and Mother were left to clean up the mess. While the boys got set up in the living room, I sat on our couch next to them. Dru stared at the game as Stefan let Winston talk. 

 

His eyes were glued to the screen as he watched him. As they got into the game, I noticed that Dru was getting very aggressive with the game. Hissing under his breath about it. Looking at my little brother, I wondered if letting him play this violent game was smart or not. Oh well, at least Stefan is having fun...


	15. Uneasy Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patty is suspicious of Damian's intentions. Does he simply want a kid to fill the parenting void? Or was he planning something more sinister?

After a few hours of watching them, I noticed the time. It was almost ten at night. Mom came into the room. She said,"Alright. It's time for bed, Stefan."

 

Stefan started pouting about this and groaned in disappointment. Dru said nothing as my little brother started turning off the game. He looked over at me with a confused look on his face. I smiled slightly as I shrugged my shoulders. Apparently he'd never had a bedtime. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. Sure he didn't go to school, but he still needed to sleep. Even young vampires had to sleep at some time. Dru scooted closer to me as my Mom directed my little brother upstairs. We watched them for a bit before I asked,"So I'm guessing Damian doesn't have a bedtime for you?"

 

"Nope. Kind of pointless when you're a vampire.",he said. Not really. He had to sleep sometime. Even if it wasn't night time. And I somewhat doubted that Damian didn't make him go to sleep at a certain time. So I questioned,"You mean Damian doesn't have a set time for when you sleep during the day?"

 

"Well, sorta.",he answered. Raising an eyebrow, I stared down at him. With a sheepish grin, he continued,"I usually go to sleep whenever I feel like it. Dad's usually too busy to make me go to bed."

 

That didn't sound good to me. It sounded like Damian didn't really take care of Dru like he was supposed to. And I frowned as he continued,"He's not neglecting me. Dad's been really busy with one of his richest clients. I still get fed."

 

I really didn't like that. It sounded like Damian left Dru to his own devices. Sure he's twelve but he still needs a parent to take care of him. Kids need supervision. At least that's what my Mother's taught me over the past few years. That they need supervision, rules, and a steady schedule to keep on track. The fact that Damian didn't do this made me highly uncomfortable. When Mom came down, she asked Dru if he'd like to stay over. He told her that he'd love to but he should probably go home. In a gentle voice, he said,"Dad's probably wondering where I'm at by now. I don't want him to get mad at me."

 

"Do you need a ride home?",Mom asked him. Worry in her voice as he headed towards the door. Dru assured her that he would be fine. And that nothing could catch him when he ran. Despite Mom's protests, he left the house. I watched Mom as she stared at the empty doorway. When she turned to me, I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn't like I could make him come back. Dru seemed to do whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to. Mom shut the door before walking back to me. In a gentle voice, she said,"Dru seems like a sweet kid. A little weird but sweet."

 

"I know, he really seems to like Stefan.",I said. Both boys seemed to get along really well. I was somewhat impressed by how quickly they got along. How quickly they played with the game. Both making fun of other players and some of the bots. Mom nodded as she sat down next to me. Looking in my eyes, she asked,"Is Damian that boy's Dad like he is your Dad?"

 

Shaking my head, I answered,"No. Damian adopted Dru."

 

Her face looked puzzled and she thought this over. It seemed strange to her that a vampire would adopt another vampire. Though she didn't voice whatever she thought of it out loud or anything. I asked,"Penny for your thoughts?"

 

"That really seems weird is all.",she answered. Her hands toyed with the remote as she looked at the TV. It wasn't all that weird in my mind. Humans adopt things all the time. Even in stories they adopted young creatures that were either part human or not human. Like me. And I said,"I dunno. It doesn't seem that weird to me that he wanted a child."

 

"Well, it wouldn't be weird if he wasn't a vampire.",Mom said. Glancing over at me with a slightly weird look. I raised an eyebrow at this. Making a small motion for her to continue and she sighed. Carefully, she said,"I didn't think that vampires wanted kids for anything other than eating. I've never seen one take care of a kid that wasn't theirs."

 

That made sense. Most stories never spoke of vampires randomly adopting kids. Or not killing them in some horrible fashion. So Mom's uneasiness was more understandable now. I shrugged and I didn't really know what to say. Damian probably wanted to take care of him out of pity. Not out of interest of being a parent. After all, Dru was being abused by other vampires to get their food. Mom didn't know about that. And it wasn't my place to tell her about it. So I just asked,"Yeah but how many vampires have kids with humans?"

 

"Probably not a lot.",she said. I smiled slightly as I turned to her. Then I told her,"Exactly. Damian might be just an oddity among vampires."

 

That's what I've been thinking for the past few days. So far, I felt that I was the only real life dhampir. I had spent some time trying to look for others like myself. And I told Mom this as I said,"I'm guessing most vampires just see us as cattle or something."

 

"How else do you explain me not being able to find others like me?",I asked in a soft voice. After a few minutes, Mom shrugged her shoulders. Gently, she offered,"Maybe you're one of the few that's been raised by humans?"

 

That made sense. If they got a job working nights or something like that. Even live in a house that had painted over windows or something. I shrugged my shoulders and I said,"I guess that would make sense. But it doesn't really seem plausible when I think about it."

 

Mom nodded her head in agreement then she turned the TV to the ScyFy channel. There was something about killer bats on. We watched in silence for a few moments. She said,"When he comes back to the house, we'll ask him. He might know more about that than we do."

 

"Hopefully..."


	16. Power Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All she wanted to do was fly on purpose. Have some control on it to do as she pleased. But flying isn't as easy as the movies make it look.

That morning, I practiced my levitating powers in the basement. I ran like I did during gym. Hoping that it would help me get off the ground. Unfortunately that didn't work. And the other option was to fall asleep. Which really wouldn't help me in the slightest. Not unless I somehow recorded myself sleeping. And that seemed really overly difficult in my mind. As I sat on the floor of our basement, I thought of what to do. 

 

There had to be some sort of trick to make it work. I want to be able to levitate. It was probably the only fun I've had since this drama started. Next to hanging out with my friends or watching horror movies. I kept racking my brain to figure out how it could work. Thinking back to how I floated those other times. That first time that I did it I was having a terrible nightmare. So I was scared out of my head. The next time that my power came through I was running. Running as fast as I could. But I couldn't make a connection between them. What exactly had I been doing to make myself float? Fear couldn't have been the only reason I was levitating like that. Just what could it have been?

 

I sighed as I stood up and tried running again. Nothing was happening. And I was starting to get really frustrated. This wasn't fair. Having a power that didn't work when you wanted it. As I ran, I tried to think of how to research my gift. Maybe there was something in fiction that could help me out. Sometimes writers had bright ideas on how powers like this could work. Even if it wasn't exactly lie my gift, I could take some notes. It might give me some points on how to use them properly. When I stopped running, I checked my pockets for my phone. This was a long shot but I still wanted to research it. Just in case. It wouldn't hurt to look online. De found some useful stuff on dhampirs that way.

 

Maybe I could find something useful. If not, then I'd go upstairs to ask her for help. She might even have some ideas on what I should do. I typed in 'How to Levitate' and I didn't find anything particularly useful. Most of it was just junk for people who were doing routines for money. Not really levitating but making it look like they did. Which was cool but wasn't going to help me use my power. So I retyped my question and tried to be more specific. This time I got a few things that seemed promising. But weren't all that useful. And I shut off my phone as I sighed in annoyance. Asking De questions about this would probably be better. After all, she liked to research stuff like this. And she might've found something useful on this than I ever could. 

 

I put my phone back in my pocket and headed upstairs. Finding my sister in the kitchen with her tablet. She glanced up at me briefly and smiled. Then went back to whatever she was doing. When I walked up to her, she asked,"Need something, Nina?"

 

"Yeah. I need your help getting my powers to work.",I answered. For a moment, she sat completely still. Looking a bit surprised that I had said this. Then she asked me to repeat myself. So I told her that I needed her help getting my powers to work. Giving me a weird look, she asked,"What makes you think that I could help you?"

 

"You researched about dhampirs not that long ago and I thought you might have something on that.",I told her. Figuring that it was reasonable enough. And she turned off her tablet as she seemed to consider this. Then she said,"I guess I could try."

 

"That's the spirit!",I said. De rolled her eyes at my words and smiled slightly. She lead me towards her room as she mumbled. I didn't quite catch what she said. It might've been something about me being a dork. But I didn't care. All I wanted was to get my powers to work so I could levitate. And when we went into her room, she found her research papers. Shuffling through them, she asked,"So what exactly is this power that you have anyway? Hypnosis? Mind control? Premonitions?"

 

When I told her that I couldn't do any of those things, she sighed. Then she listed some other powers that I couldn't do. One of them being the ability to talk to animals. I gave her an annoyed look as I said,"I'm not Eliza Thornberry, De. The power that I have is levitating."

 

"Levitating?",she repeated in disbelief. The look on her face was that of confusion. Almost as if she hadn't found anything on that. And I wondered if maybe my power was rare or something like that. I sighed as I answered,"Yes. Levitating. I wanna be able to levitate whenever I feel like for fun."

 

De didn't say anything as she shuffled her papers. Frowning slightly as she tried to find something about levitating. She gave a soft frustrated groan as she checked through them. Setting the stack down on her desk, she said,"I got nothing. There's nothing in here about dhampir being able to levitate."

 

That sucked. I asked her if she could find some information about it. Or if she could give me the website that she found these on. She thought it over for a moment. Then she answered,"Yeah, I could do that. It probably won't take me too long to find some stuff."

 

"I think I still got that site bookmarked.",she explained. Opening up her laptop as she continued telling me about it. It had some examples of powers for half human children. Not just dhampir but demi-gods and nephilim. De told me that dhampir had a lot of articles about them. That it was hard to search through what was of substance and what wasn't. Like how dhampirs were unable to go out in sunlight. Me going to school was proof that wasn't true. Sure I had to wear sunscreen but it still proved it wasn't true. And how they didn't have bones. Which didn't make sense to either of us. I wondered if we'd be able to get anything of value from this site. As we read some of the stuff written on the site, I said,"This sounds like really bad fan fiction."

 

"I know but some of this is pretty good.",she defended. I rolled my eyes again and gave a soft sigh. She relented that most of this was just stupid. But it wasn't like we had anything else to work with. Not like we could just ask another dhampir about this. So we took down notes on what seemed  the most plausible and headed back down to the basement. Both of us hoping that this could somewhat help me learn to control my power.


	17. You Can Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being able to fly was hard. Especially when she didn't know what triggered it in the first place. De suggested it might be an emotion. Much like how Peter Pan could fly. But Nina's not so sure if this is true.

Practicing with De has been much harder than I thought it was going to be. Levitating or whatever this power really is, is difficult. So far I can only lift myself two feet off the ground or so. Then I lose control and fall on the ground. Which is really getting on my nerves. Or all that fun to keep doing. Well, for me at least it wasn't all that fun to do. De's been having laugh at me falling flat on my ass several times. She's been sitting on the basement steps watching as I tried to get higher into the air. A large smile on her face as she watches me collapse to the ground for what felt like the fifth time. In a gentle voice, she suggested,"Maybe you need to think happy thoughts to fly. If it works for Peter Pan and the lost boys, it might work for you."

"Hardy har har, De. Maybe you should be a comedian.",I muttered. Pushing myself off the ground, I turned to her. Dusting myself, I gave a gentle sigh of annoyance. Then I asked,"You have any useful ideas we can try, De?"

"How about we focus on how you felt when you first levitated?",she suggested. That did seem like the step in the right direction. Pin pointing what had triggered this power in the first place. But I'm not entirely sure if it'll really work or not though. The second time that I levitated off the ground I wasn't scared. I told her,"I don't know if that'll work. The second time that I levitated, I wasn't scared. I was running with my friends in gym class."

"And I'm guessing that you've been trying that before you got me.",De stated. I nodded my head yes and she gave a long annoyed sigh. Her mouth dropping into a slight frown as she pressed her hands gently over her eyes. A more dramatic response than I thought she was going to be giving in all honesty. Though, I'm certainly not one to talk considering the stuff I've done. Shooting this down is pretty silly. So I walked up to her as she drags her hands off her eyes. Giving another sigh, she said,"Then I don't have any idea what it could be. I thought your emotions were linked to your powers, like Starfire's."

"I'm not an alien, De.",I reminded her. The look she gives me makes me wish I hadn't said anything at all. And she muttered in a low voice,"I know that now. But I thought that your powers could work the sort of the same. I figured it would be worth a shot."

"Maybe it is.",I said. Sure I don't really believe that it would work at all. But De does. And I shouldn't be shooting it down so quickly. When she looks at me, I smiled slightly to hide how I really felt. Then I continued in a chipper voice,"I mean it wouldn't hurt to try it, right? Find some emotion that might make me levitate higher than two feet off the ground."

I know I shouldn't be squishing her suggestions without even trying. They're not even bad suggestions. Hell, they might even work if we find the proper emotion. Setting her hands on her lap, she asked,"Are you sure you want to try this?"

"Of course I do. It shouldn't be that hard to find the right emotion.",I answered. Despite myself, I started feeling more optimistic about this. Almost enough to believe that it would really work.  As I smiled at De, I questioned,"So do you think that sadness would work? Maybe fear or anger?"

"What about joy, Nina?",she asked. Narrowing my eyes in annoyance, I gave a low sigh and crossed my arms. That again? Why did she have to make that joke again? Before I could utter a single word, she continued,"I'm not joking, I really mean it. What if you need to feel some sort of happiness to 'fly'? Does it really seem that strange?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked down at her. It seemed weird to me. De continued,"Starfire said that she needed to feel unbridled joy to fly. Maybe something like that will help you levitate."

"I guess it doesn't hurt to try.",I agreed. Walking to the middle of the room, I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. Levitated as far as I could and thought of things that made me happy. All the usual things that would bring a smile to my face. Like horror movies, my favorite singers, my family, and Harry Potter. Nothing was making me rise. Not even thoughts of being able to turn this into flight made me move an inch. I guessed this wasn't going to work. But it was still worth a shot. And I sighed as I opened my eyes as I said,"Well, De it was worth a shot. I guess it just wasn't enough _to..._ "

I was higher off the ground then before. Nearly touching the cieling now. De was on her feet, mouth wide open in awe. For a moment she looked like a fish. Then she shut her mouth and a grin grew over her features. In a gentle voice, she said," _I knew it...I was right._ "

"Yeah you're right, De.",I admitted. Amazed that my powers could work this way. I wasn't happy when they cropped up. This doesn't really make much sense. Looking at her as I started to sink, I said,"When I first levitated, I had a nightmare."

"Maybe you need a positive emotion to go higher?",she offered. As weird as it seemed. It worked. I grinned a little as I headed over to her. With a grin, I hugged her and thanked her or helping me. As we headed upstairs, I said,"Thanks, Tinkerbell. I may not go to Neverland. But I'll have fun fluttering around."

"Maybe I'll take you for a fly sometime.",I offered. De looked up at me with a slight frown. Then she said,"I've seen how your driving lessons are going. I don't wanna be flown into a tree."

" _Party pooper._ "


End file.
